SHARK (SHowing Animals Respect and Kindness) is calling on South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley to use her authority to shut down what we believe is an illegal live pigeon shoot to be
held at the Broxton Bridge Plantation, in Ehrhardt, South Carolina.

In a letter sent to her office today, SHARK states that we believe these shoots are a violation of S.C. Code Ann. ß 47-1-70 (2011), which
makes it illegal to "abandon" any animal by "deserting, forsaking, or intending to" give up an animal "without securing another owner or without providing the necessities of life."
An "animal" under the South Carolina animal cruelty laws clearly includes pigeons because"animal" is
defined as "a living vertebrate creature except a homo sapien."

Every time a captured or hand raised pigeon is put into a box and launched into the air so they can be shot at for fun, that's abandonment.
Furthermore, it has been our experience, after documenting dozens of pigeon shoots, that a large percentage of birds escape and fly away. Most of
those birds are wounded and may take hours or even days to die. We believe that this absolutely is abandonment under South Carolina law.

If Governor Haley fails to do the right thing, SHARK investigators will be at the Broxton Bridge Plantation all four days and will ask that cruelty
charges be filed against the plantation and individual shooters.

SHARK has also sent out a nationwide alert asking people to contact Governor Haley, and today we've launched an online petition as well.

The people of South Carolina need to know what is going to happen in their state, and their Governor needs to stand up for the law and shut it down
before it starts.